Emily ◇ Cinderella

Chapter 6

Ella and I let go of each other, and saddled our horses. My horse, Ferox, was a gorgeous black, the colour of night itself. Ella had chosen Moon, a grey and white spotted horse with a short temper and no control over itself. We were on our way to town, and Ella's horse started to act strange. I frowned at it, but didn't say anything; my sister was a proficient at equestrian sports, I'm sure she knew what she was doing.

We decided to cut through the woods for a moment to ease our anger and distress, following a path through fields that I knew well. I stayed close to Ella, although my horse was slightly faster and kept me in her lead. My hair whipped around me, just as Ella's fluttered at the base of her shoulders, crashing down my back in free waves. I closed my eyes and smiled, enjoying the wind on my face as societal restrictions were lifted from my shoulders. A horn blasted from somewhere near us, causing my eyes to drift over in its general direction.

"There's a hunting party near, Ella. We must turn back." I shouted over the horn, turning my head just in time to see her horse shoot off into the woods, Ella screaming for it to stop. I cursed and swung my horse around, digging my heels into it's side to will it to go quicker. I galloped full force to her, attempting to catch the horse as it flied in fright. Ella attempted to calm Moon over and over again, aided by my shouting, though it was no use.

I caught up to her side, forcing Ferox to keep up. I gripped onto Ella's reigns, pulling them sharply towards me to command the horse to stop. Slowly, it eased to a canter, and then to a complete halt. I breathed out a sigh of relief, looking over my sister in concern. "Are you alright?"

Ella nodded, her hair windblown and her lips parted in panic. Her chest was heaving, but other than that I saw no change. "I'm alright. I thought he was trained, but that horn..." Ella trailed off, gazing over her shoulder at the source of the noise. I nodded, watching the men and the dogs trailing off in the nearby field, after a hunt. They all wore greens and blues and creams, the colours only the rich could afford.

I grasped Ella's reigns. "Yes, it's a hunting party. Come, we must leave before they mistake us for game." Ella nodded and took the reigns, although we were too late to go unnoticed. Two members of the hunting party, both men, had noticed our distress, pulling away from the party at their great peril.

"Miss! Are you alright?" The first man asked Ella, his blue eyes boring into hers. His black hair was short, ruffled from the wind, although somehow perfect. His face was clean shaven and oddly familiar, as though I had seen him before. His body was lithe, although his frame was quite large, making him seem rather intimidating next to my petite sister. Ella nodded, her face slightly red with embarrassment. I kept thinking of where I might have seen the first man; I didn't recall working for him, or for his family, there should be no reason I knew him. I shook the feeling off and turned to the second man, whose handsome face and bright eyes I recognized.

"William Thatcher?" I asked, surprise lacing my tone. I hadn't pictured him for the hunting type. His eyes met mine, a small smile tugging at his lips. He looked a lot less formal in his hunting gear than he had in the suit he wore yesterday, although he looked just as intimidating as the first; all 6'1 of him leering over me on possibly the tallest horse I had ever seen.

"Miss Emily?" He asked me in return, rearing his horse to see me better. The first man lifted his eyebrows, looking between his friend and me with surprise. He had never seen William so warm to strangers, and mean it. Usually it was a ruse, a mask to seem confident when he wanted nothing more than to hide behind a chair and smuggle the cheese from the plate.

"You two know each other?" The stranger asked, his eyes flicking back and forth between my face and William's. Will shot him a warning look, begging him not to be an ass.